Monday, December 21

I couldn't believe my luck when I found this little stuffed doll! She has the most angelic little face and has her original tag. She is a music box, but she got wound a little too tight somewhere along the line as she just clicks when I turn the base. I had a similar doll in pink {pictured below} that was not a music box. I had her in the shop FOREVER and she sold about a month ago... bummer, I would have loved to have had the pair of them. I will certainly have to keep this little sweetheart for a while. She's just so, well, "Polly"!

This old bear is a true gem. I just want to sit and listen to all the stories he could tell. He has obviously been well loved by all of his previous owners and I must admit... I priced him so that he and I might have a chance to get to know each other better. I'm still trying to decide if there might be a place for him to hang out at my house. For now, he'll greet you when you walk in the door at the shop. I'm smitten with him!

This Santa is so sweet. He stand about 30" tall and was screaming for me to take him home. His beard is starting to crumble a bit {I wonder if I couldn't try hairspraying it?} but he still has a lot of life left in him. As a kid we had one of these a couple feet taller when my parents ran our local grocery store. My dad says it was from the 60's and was part of a 7-up promotion. When my sister walked into the shop the other day, she instantly was drawn to this Santa and said "Why is he so familiar?" She and another sister came over tonight and dad told us that we indeed did have one of these growing up. Happy memories...

My dad and two of my sisters came over tonight. My dad had brought a batch of homemade caramel corn with him to the shop for our open house last week and we all went ga ga over it. I invited them all over for dinner and asked him if he would show us how to make it. Well, four hours later, we have these three HUGE bowls of homemade caramel corn to show for our labors. I was pouring the caramel over the popcorn on the first batch and bumped my arm into a wooden spoon full of some very HOT caramel. I couldn't drop the pan, so I just stood there going "hot, hot, hot!" My sister grabbed a towel to at least wipe the boiling semi-liquid off. I have a nice little blister on my arm, but it will be just fine. Well worth it! It is sooooo yummy.

Thursday, December 17

Charles Twelvetrees! His work is amazing. My little "Pudgy Polly" girl I use in most of my logo artwork is a Twelvetrees character. His characters scream to me and in my head each of them are a character in a story. I have an entire room in my store that I call "Pudgy's Place"... I like to imagine that Pudgy lives there. This little guy reminds me of a kid who lives on a farm and doesn't have friends close by, but loves music so much that he will do whatever it takes to make music. Isn't he sweet?

Chiara Ann Blythe! Her work is amazing, too. Don't you love the little beard she put on Santa? She's six and a half now and never ceases to amaze me with her talents. I have piles and piles of my kids' artwork. I wish I was better at letting it go so my kids could create all the time. I am always more concerned with the mess they are going to make, so I say no far more often than I say yes when they want to do a project. Maybe that should be one of my resolutions for next year... to let them create and just close my eyes 'til it's over and then clean up the mess. They always make such wonderful things.

Sunday, December 13

A huge thank you to everyone who came to support us during our anniversary sale. We had a wonderful few days and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful customers. I didn't get to be there for the whole things, but I need to thank Sarah and Matt {especially for the great hug, Sarah}, Daryl and Colleen {I didn't get to see these two wonderful people, but they came, they shopped and most importantly, they brought me chocolate truffles!!!}, Cindy {sorry I missed you}, Kathy {who stopped and shopped twice!}, Dorothy and her family who I was so very excited to see... there are so many more, but these I can recall off the top of my head. My daddy was such a huge help and is such a wonderful guy. He's my biggest fan and I am so very blessed that he and I got a second chance as adults to be the wonderful friends that we are today.

Thursday, December 10

Thanks for your inquiry and thanks even more for checking out my blog! Here's what we've got Connie... you can email me or call my cell at 319-270-0449 if you see anything you are interested in. A few have some damage or staining and are a little cheaper. Most are $3-$4 and the flow blue one is $12.50. I have others that are just solid creamy white.Have a great weekend! Polly

Wednesday, December 9

The doors to our store have been open for 18 years now... it really is hard to believe that it has been that long. We started out so small and so... well... BAD! We've been growing and improving {I hope} each year and I think our little shop is looking pretty darned good these days.

It's always difficult in a mall like ours to advertise a sale because some dealers want to and some dealers simply don't... this time, everyone is participating and I couldn't be happier. Our discounts will range from 15%-25% with some items even further discounted. Some dealers do have a restriction on things being over $5 or $10. My dad {dealer "BN"} and I {#33} will be offering 25% off on all of our items $200 and under and 20% off anything over $200. That means some really great prices on some really great stuff. I'll have even further discounts on some of the larger pieces that have been around for a while.

SO>>> this weekend {starting on Thursday} through Sunday, stop by Polly Ann's and help us celebrate our 18th anniversary!!!

This is a picture I took of the shop last night after I closed and was driving away. The light streaks were caused by the snow and my slow shutter on my phone camera... I think it's pretty cool.

We got somewhere between 8 and 12 inches of the white stuff. It's blowing around and Bob is already out moving it around with his four-wheeler and blade. I'm not sure why he didn't use his skid loader, but I'm sure he will use it later to move the snow piles. We are supposed to get a bit more today and have some winds to make it unpleasant to try to go anywhere, but I've got to get to the shop sometime today to clean up the mess I left last night. Our anniversary sale starts tomorrow... another post to follow this afternoon about that...

For now, I've got my cup of hot cocoa and my oldest little girl by my side and I'm going to just enjoy the beauty of winter and relax in the stillness for a bit... until the other two get up anyway!

Sunday, December 6

My tree at home... a 12 footer with an angel identical to my Grandma's (she turned 100 in August)... it's not as loaded this year since we got such a big one, but it seems my collection of vintage ornaments has reached into the 100's. I love so many of them and say "oh... my favorite" about a million times as I empty the huge box. Our tradition has become mom (that's me) sitting and carefully unwrapping each treasure while Bob and each of the kids put them on the tree. That way I get to enjoy each and every ornament every year instead of just the ones I hang. I like it better that way! My daughter, Lisa, touched my heart this year when she said that she liked the ones that were more worn the best because she thought they each had a story to tell. She's so right! Chiara (Kiki) liked the ones with pink and sparkles the best. Robbie just wanted to get it done, but was a trooper in helping with the vintage aluminum garland and the red bead garland.

This is a bit of a new and old mix. I love the little elf ski bunnies and Mr. and Mrs. Claus and shelf sitters that I bought a couple years ago at a tag sale... they are Lefton. The little pine cone elves vary in age and the two hanging on the bottom have the most beautiful vintage paper mache' faces... among my favorites.

My two little feather trees. I used to have another, but, like an idiot... I sold it... stupid, stupid, stupid! These aren't going anywhere. I have a box of really old feather tree ornaments, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Maybe later in the week. I'll try to post pictures.

A few of my little paper village houses and a mix of new and old bottle brush trees on the fireplace mantle.

My two favorite vintage japan santas. The little red brick house is new, but I still love it!

Wednesday, December 2

Join us tomorrow night, December 3rd for our Hometown Holidays A Magical Night! Our entire business district comes alive with Christmas tomorrow night. Live music at our shop and many others, a live nativity just up the street, horse drawn wagon rides for all ages picking up right outside my front door, in-store specials and delicious drinks and snacks at our store and many others. Luminaries light the way and you can't help but feel the energy of Christmas. It truly is a beautiful sight.We'll be open from 10am-8pm tomorrow with the Magical Night festivities beginning at 5:30pm. Do join us!

Kiki says... "Come see us at Polly Ann's Thursday night, December 3rd from 5-8pm"

Next show...

About Me

I'm a mom to three beautiful kids and was fortunate enough to marry my high school sweetheart and we're more in love now than ever.
I've owned an antique shop for 20 years. I love anything vintage, everything soft pink, and green and all things baby!!!
I love to make fun, original, whimsical things. I've designed quilting fabric in the past and have so much fun with images on my computer.
My hubby and I also run a bed & breakfast out of our home. Never a dull moment...